About the Convention on Biological Diversity
Position Papers
The 2010 Biodiversity target in EU Development Cooperation
Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 - a critical challenge for EU external development.
Ratified by 188 countries, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) represents the first united effort by governments to address the rate at which the world's natural resources are being degraded and destroyed.
The objectives of the Convention are:- conservation of biodiversity;
- sustainable use of its components; and
- the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
Implementation rests with governments
The Convention sets overall goals and policies to tackle common problems and organizes technical and financial cooperation to implement them. However, the responsibility for achieving its goals rests largely with the countries themselves.
Under the Convention, governments undertake to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity. They are required to develop national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and to integrate these into broader national plans for development which include sectors such as forestry, agriculture, and fisheries.
The commitments
Signatories to the treaty also commit themselves to:
- establish protected areas;
- rehabilitate degraded ecosystems; and
- work with indigenous communities to preserve traditional knowledge of the sustainable use of biological diversity.
Under the CBD, developed countries also take on the responsibility of providing funding to developing nations to support their implementation of the Convention.
